The innovation relates to a device for a battery chamber or for a battery cover in a hearing aid with replaceable battery.
During the latest decades behind-the-ear as well as in-the-ear hearing aids have been made continuously smaller, which has resulted in the development of very small batteries. Today even very small batteries have been developed, which nevertheless have sufficient electric capacity for operating a hearing aid. However, the battery must be replaced by a new battery or by a rechargeable battery at intervals, e.g. daily or at intervals of a few days depending on the power consumption of the hearing aid and on the manner in which the user uses the hearing aid.
To simplify the replacement process many hearing aids have a battery chamber or a battery cover, which is configured in such a manner that the battery is placed herein and tipped or displaced into its place in the hearing aid. As the hearing aids as well as the batteries are very small today, hearing aids are to a great extent designed in such a manner that the replacement process is simplified and often in such a manner that the battery cannot be turned the wrong way. Among hearing aid users there are today persons of all ages, i.e. also quite a number of children and quite a number of elderly people. Consequently, it is essential that the battery in a hearing aid may be replaced easily and quickly.
From GB patent no. 794,347 is known a hearing aid-so-called hearing spectacles-where the battery drawer in each side bar is blocked by a blocking member in the form of a small leaf spring being maneuvered by means of a thin object through a small hole in the cover. The blocking member cannot be disengaged function-wise, if the user does not want to use it, as it also constitutes the member which keeps the battery drawer closed. It is moreover disadvantageous to use a metal spring, as its function may be reduced or completely disappear by too heavy impacts.
As to the known hearing aid, the battery cannot be removed without using a suitable, thin object, e.g. a thin steel wire, a needle or the like, or without knowing how to open the battery chamber by means of the object. Children are hereby prevented from removing the battery themselves, as the battery is replaced by the child's parents or others who are looking after the child. Thus, the child is not in direct contact with and cannot misuse the battery, e.g. put it in its mouth and swallow it. The construction moreover ensures that persons other than children, who are unable to administer the replacement of batteries themselves, are prevented from replacing or removing batteries from hearing aids.